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5th Corvette pulled out of sinkhole

Workmen pulled the fifth car from the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Originally, they thought this car would not be able to be recovered because of its location in the hole.

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5th Corvette pulled out of sinkhole

By Justin StoryBowling Green Daily News
3:35 p.m. EST March 6, 2014

The Millionth Corvette was rescued from the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum on Wednesday. "Initially there was no intention to bring the Millionth out, but as we got in there and saw more this morning we did feel like this might be our best chance," said Danny Daniel, President of Scott, Murphy and Daniel Construction. According to the museum, the car is repairable.
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Sensing that no better opportunity might come, workers Wednesday removed two more Corvettes that had fallen into the sinkhole at the National Corvette Museum.

The white 1992 Corvette, the millionth one to roll off the assembly line, was pulled from the hole early Wednesday afternoon and the 1984 PPG Pace Car was successfully removed a few hours later.

Five of the eight Corvettes that had been swallowed by the sinkhole, which formed last month in the Skydome, have been removed since Monday.

Katie Frassinelli, marketing and communications manager at the museum, said the recovery of the two vehicles was an unexpected development and a pleasant surprise.

Bowling Green contractor Scott, Murphy and Daniel, the construction engineer leading the recovery of the Corvettes that fell into the collapsed sinkhole Feb. 12 at the Skydome adjacent to the museum, was performing some early work to stabilize the massive sinkhole and saw a chance to pull out the partially buried 1992 convertible.

“They attached a strap to one of the wheels, pulled on it a little and it swung into the cavern,” Frassinelli said.

Workers eventually lowered the car to the floor of the sinkhole and hooked a strap to a second wheel, enabling them to safely pull out the car with a crane.

The once-gleaming white hood of the car, which was donated to the museum by General Motors, is caked with dirt, and the windshield is smashed and bent inward, but the car’s frame appeared to be in good shape.

“The damage at first glance seems to be less extensive than what it could have been, especially given the precarious spot the car landed,” Bob Hellman, facilities and displays manager at the museum, said in a post on the museum’s blog.

The PPG Pace Car, designed to be a pace car in the PPG Indy Car World Series, was pulled from partial submersion out of the sinkhole by its front wheels and appeared to have sustained heavy damage to its body when a concrete slab fell on it.

After removing the slab from the sinkhole, workers strapped hooks to the wheels of the pace car, which is now on display behind a Plexiglas window that allows visitors a look into the Skydome.

Frassinelli said the cranes are now out of the Skydome and drilling equipment is in place to help stabilize the sinkhole in preparation for removing the final three Corvettes.